


Buddies

by Petra1999



Category: Buddy System 2, Rhett & Link
Genre: (but you can read it as normal rhink too i guess), (that means this is a manbun x mustache fic), Buddy System Season 2, First Kiss, Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Making Out, Pining, pining!Link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-22
Updated: 2018-08-22
Packaged: 2019-06-28 15:44:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15710280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petra1999/pseuds/Petra1999
Summary: I have decided that we need more Buddy System 2 fics, so here you go.Pining Link, first kisses, and love confessions.





	Buddies

It was hot. So hot that Rhett wasn't in his usual night silk, but silk shorts and no shirt. Which made everything just so much worse for Link when lying awake in his bed at night, trying to fall asleep, failing because of the heat, because of the frighteningly loud sound of the ceiling fan inches from his face, and mostly because of the persistent image of Rhett's bare chest that wouldn't leave Link's mind no matter how hard he tried to push it away. But nothing mattered anyway. He was on the top bunk, in a shirt and pants (there's no way he would run around half naked), the sheets barely covering his feet, the sweat on his forehead which ran down his face and got caught in his moustache comfortably cool thanks to the proximal ventilation, and Rhett was down there: close enough to hear his soft breaths, but not close enough to smell his scent - a mixture of exotic coffee and artisan goods - that Link enjoyed so much whenever they spent time together.

Well, Link thought to himself, being closer to his roommate wouldn't help with the heat problem anyway. Quite the opposite, actually. So why couldn't he stop thinking about climbing down the ladder and joining Rhett on his part of the bed? These thoughts had pestered him for a while now. Thoughts about Rhett in his silk clothing, Rhett with his hair down, Rhett with a towel around his hips, Rhett, Rhett, Rhett was all Link ever saw now. Not that he would complain about that, no. He was very glad that he had found a new normal, even if it was a bit more unpredictable than his previous one. Unpredictable not only in the sense of robot murder, creepy roommates, or taste-offs, but also in the sense of feeling like he might have eaten something bad that was turning his stomach around every time the tall frame of his lovely roommate came into view, with his carefully styled hair and trimmed beard, with these crazy ideas and foreign tastes, with this glow in his eyes whenever he found something new he could teach Link.

Okay, that was enough daydreaming about Rhett now. Time to go to sleep. He would just take a deep breath...

And exhale...

Good, he would fall asleep soon with this technique. Except, right then a quiet sigh escaped Rhett, and it skyrocketed Link's heartbeat again. So much for sleep. _Groan_.

Oops, that was loud. Link held his breath, listening for clues on whether he had woken up his roommate.

There it was, a soft grumbling from below. A shifting, a creaking of the mattress. And then again: nothing. Until a quiet voice cut through the silence:

"Link?"

Link jerked, almost bumping into the ceiling fan in the process. "Yeah?" he whispered.

Rhett didn't bother keeping his voice down. "Are you awake?"

Link raised an eyebrow at the stupid question. "Uhmm, yeah..."

"Me too," came the answer.

Link decided not to respond, and instead carefully shifted to his side and started nervously drawing patterns on the mattress with his finger.

His roommate below him moved as well. "It's hot," Rhett stated the obvious, and sighed. "I'm going to sprinkle my face with some nice, cold water." And with that, Link heard his roommate leave the bed and walk out of the room without ever turning the lights on. He listened carefully as soft footsteps travelled down the hall into the bathroom. He could hear the door open, the flick of the light switch. As he heard the sink tap turning, Link decided to give up on sleeping for now. His thoughts were fixated on his roommate, for a reason he didn't quite understand. But the comfortable darkness surrounding him made him feel that maybe tonight was different than all the other times he'd tried to be close to Rhett.

Link rolled to the edge of the bed, carefully descended the ladder, and landed on bare feet on the cool wooden floor. Already, he felt better, energy surging through his body, further erasing the thought of going back to sleep from his mind.

He followed the sound of flowing water into the hallway, and then let the soft light that was coming through the slightly ajar bathroom door lead him to Rhett. He pushed the door softly, slipping in quietly.

The light was uncomfortably bright, but its natural orange gleam thankfully made it bearable within a few blinks. Rhett was bent over the sink, cupping the water, then wetting his face. After a few seconds, he turned the tap off and stood upright, shooting a welcoming glance at Link, a soft smile decorating his dripping face.

He was gorgeous, the way the drops of water showed the reflections of the bathroom lights, the way his damp eyelashes seemed darker than before. Link's gaze followed a water droplet on Rhett's face, which was soon traveling down the man's neck, coming to a halt only when it hit a collarbone. Link swallowed hard, forcing himself to look away from the chest covered in curly, blonde hair, and decided to sit on the edge of the bathtub to give the illusion of a purpose for his following. So he sat, looking up to his roommate towering above him.

Rhett was staring down at Link, the corners of his mouth still upturned, returning all the attention Link was giving. But after a deep breath, he turned around to continue his work. First, he dabbed a soft towel over his face. Then he opened his hair bun and let his soft locks fall down on his shoulders. He grabbed a comb from the bathroom shelf and started to carefully brush through his hair. As he laid it back down and started bunching up his hair to put it into a bun again, Link stood up, heart beating fast, not thinking twice for once in his life. "Stop."

Rhett turned around to face him, a question written over his face, one eyebrow raised playfully.

Link gulped. "I think you should leave it like that."

"Loose?" Rhett turned his head towards the mirror, inspecting his reflection with judging eyes.

"Yeah," Link confirmed, voice shaky. "Makes you look different. Good different." His gaze met Rhett's in the mirror, and he quickly looked down to his feet to escape the eye contact. His body was burning of shame, and he knew for a fact that there had to be a noticeable blush on his face.

"'Good different', huh? I like that." Rhett dropped his hair tie on the counter and ran his fingers through his hair, shaping a loose ponytail and directing it over his right shoulder. Then he faced Link. "You like it like this?"

Link raised his gaze to take a look and found Rhett closer to him than he had remembered. His friend's hair was flowing down onto his shoulder freely. Link took in the rare sight (and made sure to lock it away for later), before flicking his eyes back to Rhett's and responding: "Yes".

His roommate smiled and leaned down so far that their faces were almost touching, eyes piercing into Link's like every time he had a new crazy idea. "Good," he said with a nod, making sure to not break their eye contact. He lingered for a few seconds, and then stood up straight and vanished through the bathroom door, leaving Link alone to wonder what the hell had just happened.

Link brushed it off as just another one of THOSE moments, which made him dizzy from excitement but ultimately didn't mean a thing. He wasn't that naïve.

With a sigh, he smoothed down a few wrinkles on his shirt and tucked it into his pants for good measure. He looked into the mirror, making sure that he was as presentable as always, stroking over his moustache, deep in thought. The way his friend made him feel was ridiculous, and he had to do something about it. It was now or never. Link had never before so much as thought about actually making a move towards Rhett, but he couldn't take the butterflies in his stomach anymore. He would simply tell Rhett and then flee into bed with the excuse of being tired. In the morning, when Rhett found something to be obsessed about for the day, like he always did, everything would be forgotten, and Link could die happily with the knowledge that he, for once in his life, had taken a chance. He didn't expect Rhett to return his feelings. He didn't even know if Rhett even thought about men this way, or about anyone for that matter. But maybe being rejected will give his thoughts a chance to vanish before Link would become miserable, living with Rhett without ever _having_ him.

Another gaze in the mirror showed Link his own worried expression. He flipped the light switch, didn't bother to close the door, and walked back towards the bedroom.

A small light had been turned on inside. Rhett was sitting cross-legged on the floor, breathing deeply in a steady rhythm, his hands resting in his lap. His eyes were closed.

Link stepped into the room, making sure his step was audible as to not scare Rhett. For a moment, all he could do was collect all the courage that was hidden somewhere deep in him. A glance towards Rhett's peaceful face finally pushed him over the edge. "I gotta tell you something."

Rhett opened one of his eyes to look at Link, then closed it again, waiting for his friend to continue.

Link inhaled and opened his mouth to talk, but right when he started, Rhett interrupted him.

"You can't sleep, right?" His friend's words were rushed, not matching his calm appearance. "I can help you. Come here."

Link decided that rolling with it for now was easier than to keep pressing on, so he sat down facing Rhett, copying his pose.

Rhett only opened his eyes when Link had assumed the position. He leaned in to inspect Link. "Okay, now close your eyes, and breathe into your belly."

Link did as he was told, shutting out the image of the beautiful man in front of him, breathing in as deeply as he could.

"No, you're breathing into your chest. It's gotta be your belly, man," Rhett tutored. Link could hear a shuffling as Rhett moved closer, and then felt the soft imprint of one of Rhett's hands on his belly. The warmth turned into heat and immediately shot to Link's face. This felt... intimate. He exhaled hard, hoping to breath out his nervousness as well, and took another breath, this time making sure to do it correctly, pushing his belly against Rhett's palm.

"Good, you got it," Rhett praised. "Keep doing that, you'll relax in no time."

Link continued taking breaths. After a few repetitions, he felt Rhett shifting further to Link's side, and then a second hand, this time on his lower back. This was the opposite of relaxing, but Link continued the exercise anyway, not wanting Rhett to stop whatever it was that he was doing.

A few seconds passed, and Link could feel a faint tickle of hair on his arm, and then Rhett's upper body against his.

"Perfect." The word was whispered into his ear, and the feeling of Rhett's breath on his skin sent a shiver over Link's body.

Link was reminded of his plan. He slowly opened his eyes and stopped the breathing exercise. He was glad when Rhett didn't remove his hands from him just yet. "I need to tell you something," he said factually.

Rhett hesitated to answer. "Okay."

"It might be a little weird," Link warned. He tried to sound nonchalant.

"No problem. Weird is good." Rhett raised one eyebrow playfully, pulled his arms back and rested them in his lap again, waiting for his roommate to talk.

Link immediately wished the feeling of his friend's touch to come back, but his plan was more important in that moment. It was time to tell Rhett. But Link realized that he hadn't planned on what exactly to say. He tested some possibilities: I'm into you? No, too direct. I think you're great? Not clear enough. I have a crush on you? Sounded like a bad joke.

A few seconds had passed and Link knew he had to say something before Rhett assumed the worst, so he decided to go with the truth: "I don't know how to say it."

He looked over at Rhett and found his friend looking back at him with soft, encouraging eyes, eyelashes still damp from before. He was patiently waiting, and Link was thankful for that, but he still didn't know what to say.

"I also gotta tell you something," Rhett said after a few more seconds of waiting. He licked over his lips and waited for Link to respond.

Link was a bit disappointed that Rhett apparently didn't care about what he had to say. Maybe he was better off not telling Rhett. His roommate obviously hadn't felt the same sparks the last few minutes, his mind being on something else already. Link guessed what Rhett was going to tell him about. Probably a new weird dish or expensive product he was planning on buying.

No, I really have to tell you something, Link could say. If he didn't return the conversation to himself soon, he was sure that he wouldn't be able to steer it back into this territory. But maybe that was the excuse he wanted.

Before Link could make up his mind about what to do, Rhett spoke.

"I like you."

What!?

" _Like-like_ ," Rhett added, unsure. It was a tone of voice that Link didn't hear from his friend really often. It was serious.

Link's heart threatened to explode. He must have misunderstood. That was his line! Was Rhett making fun of him? If so, it didn't look like it. Heck, it felt pretty damn real.

Rhett reached out his arm and softly touched Link's chin with his fingers, pulling Link a few inches closer, looking him into the eyes. The corners of his mouth curled into a smile, his eyebrows raised. "So, what did you want to say?"

Link held his breath, not answering, distracted by the closeness of Rhett's face.

"Is it bad of me to assume," Rhett started, "that you wanted to say the same thing?" There was a playful sparkle in his eyes.

"No." Link gulped. "Y-you're right," he confessed.

His friend immediately started grinning. "Good." He let go of Link's chin and instead moved his hand to cup the man's cheek. "So, is it okay if I kiss you right now?"

Link's heart jumped at the question. Rhett didn't need to ask twice, he had been waiting for this for too long. Without hesitation he pushed forward, crashing their lips together. He could feel his roommate's smile as he started kissing him. Rhett tasted exactly the way he had imagined: intense, chocolaty with a bitter hint. Curious, he licked over Rhett's bottom lip to taste even more, and felt the man groan softly in response.

Link felt a second hand on his other cheek and was suddenly very aware of how awkward his own arms were dangling beside his body, so he searched for Rhett's chest, startled at the lack of clothing he had forgotten about. But his friend was warm, so he let his fingers run over the soft skin, up towards Rhett's collarbones, and then locked his hands in place behind the man's neck.

Rhett broke the kiss, and they both caught their breath for a few seconds. Then, Rhett looked into Link's eyes. "You're driving me crazy."

Link's stomach flipped as the butterflies fluttered around. He didn't know what to say, but he knew that he wanted to keep kissing Rhett, so he did.

Rhett welcomed the second kiss even more than the first, returning every push and lick and sigh with the same passion he received them with. One of his hands found Link's hair and pulled ever so slightly, which made Link moan into the kiss.

Heat rushed through Link's body, whether it was his excitement or embarrassment from the moan he wasn't sure. With it, the kiss transformed from slow and passionate to strong and needy.

"How did you know?" Link asked in-between kisses. He was genuinely curious about what had given his crush away.

"Are you serious?" Rhett chuckled, planting soft kisses along Link's cheekbones, and one kiss on his ear, before whispering "It was so obvious."

"Mmmh," Link purred, already forgetting what they had talked about. He very much enjoyed the attention his friend was giving him. He pulled him in for more kisses.

Rhett's hands travelled all over Link's body, except for some parts he didn't dare to touch, and he whispered quiet praises every time their lips disconnected for a moment. "Your lips are so soft", "God, you're perfect", "I could kiss you all night".

Link felt like he was floating, like it was a dream, but he didn't dare to question whether it actually was. He thanked Rhett with a kiss for everything he said, and after a while he could feel Rhett's tongue slipping in between his lips. Link let it in, thinking about how he had always thought that he would never do this, that it was so disgusting. But it was perfect, warm, intimate, it was Rhett. Soon he moved his own tongue into Rhett's mouth, dragging it over his Teeth softly. He tasted like cocoa and toothpaste.

The French kissing made it more difficult for Rhett to find moments to speak, but he still did. "I love this."

Link hummed in agreement and started to kiss him again, making sure that his roommate knew that he felt the same.

Soon after, Rhett said something again. "I love _you_."

And for that Link made an exception: He didn't kiss Rhett again, but looked into his eyes, catching his breath, heart racing.

"I love you, too."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave kudos if you enjoyed it. Comments motivate me to keep writing!


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